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IESE MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 7 / Off Campus / Adcom

After submitting my application for the March deadline (round 7), I received an invitation to interview within a week. I interviewed with an adcom member at a hotel in London. My interviewer offered me coffee, explained that the interview would be fairly conversational, and began. Questions included:

Describe your childhood until the beginning of university. What was your greatest achievement during this time?

Why did you choose your university?

Describe your undergraduate experience

Describe your employment history

Why an MBA? Why now?

Why IESE?

What other schools have you applied to?

What are your short-term and long-term career goals?

Name three firms you’d like to work for after the MBA.

Have you visited the campus? Have you spoken with any alumni?

Describe a situation where you used your network to achieve something.

Is there anything else you’d like the Adcom to know about you?

Summarise yourself in a single sentence (my answer was written down verbatim).

After this she asked me if I had any questions. Overall the interview was very relaxed, the interviewer was super friendly, and I enjoyed the whole process. The only challenge I received was when I admitted I hadn’t visited the campus and wasn’t planning to due to my work schedule – my interviewer suggested this would be a stumbling block and strongly encouraged me to attend an assessment day or at least organise an informal visit to Barcelona. The whole thing lasted a little over an hour.

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